Vol.XI No.I Pg.6
March 1974

Heart In Tune With Lips

Robert F. Turner

Each first Wednesday the Oaks-West church has a singing: training our song leaders, learning more about praising God in song. We also ask one of our young men to make a short talk. Lynn Fleming made this fine talk, and I wanted you to read it. Lynn is 16 years old, still a first-year saint.

I believe that many people do not realize that singing is just as much a part of worship as a sermon from the preacher. Singing has always had a place in the Christians worship and always will, Singing involves much more than reading lines of words on a sheet of paper and putting them to music. In Eph. 5:l9 it says, Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

It is a terrible thing in divine worship to draw close to God with the lips while the heart is far from Him. It is often that in public worship people are carried off from the meaning of the words because they allow their minds to stray to worldly matters. Your heart should always be in tune with your lips. When we sing songs we are singing them to God: praising him for everything we have and giving him thanks for the many blessings that have been bestowed upon us. So when we sing to God we should sing in a manner that brings glory unto him. In Heb. 13:l5 it says, By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.

Sometimes people are hesitant about singing. They are worried about whether or not they can sing well enough to participate in the song. There are those who do not even bother to open a hymnal. To those who are worried about how well they can sing, all you have to do is realize that you are not singing to please man, you are singing to please God. In Col. 3:16 it says, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. To those who do not even bother to open a hymnal, either you know the song by heart, or you are not doing what you should to please God.

Picture yourself as a visitor our church; what would be your opinion of our singing? I am not talking about the quality; I am talking about how much participation there is, and how happy we are to be singing praise to the Lord. Suppose a visitor was here tonight— and there is. How much stronger in the faith would he grow by attending tonights service?

Have you ever skipped a singing service maybe because you thought, since tonight is practice night I do not need to attend? Well, if you have. you skipped much more than a practice. You skipped a chance to worship God,

You might ask yourself a question If everyone sang as I sang tonight, how much more or Jesus would we have glorified God. In Psm. 95:1 it says, O come let us sing unto the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. (Lynn Fleming)